![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
damalurbackupTITLE: Twelve Minutes with Nadeshiko
CHARACTERS: Kurogane/Fai
NOTES: Repost from 2007. Dedicated to my cat, who died one week shy of her sixteenth birthday.
SUMMARY: “It’s just,” Fai explains, “black shows the cat hair so much.”
TWELVE MINUTES WITH NADESHIKO
1.
The fur catches his eye first, long before he hears the pitiful cries. It’s a kitten, a kitten colored the buffed tan of autumn leaves. It’s huddled in the gutter and mewing faintly, crouched next to another little cat of the same color.
Fai looks at the kitten for a long minute, then scoops it up and cradles it in his arms.
2.
“Is it a boy or a girl, Fai-san?” Sakura asks. He’s glad to see some delight in her eyes; she’s been solemn and sacrificing for too long.
“She’s a girl,” he says, and passes the little ball of fur to his princess. “I haven’t named her yet.”
Sakura considers the kitten, then says, “How about Nadeshiko?”
3.
Kurogane’s face is a study in exasperation, but his tone is admirably calm, if a little forced. “Why,” he asks, “is there a kitten in my shoe?”
Fai smiles up at him from the floor. “That’s Nadeshiko-chan, Kuro-pii! Isn’t she cute?”
Kurogane opens his mouth to complain, but he’s secretly so glad to hear Fai call him something besides “Kurogane” that he just walks away.
4.
Nadeshiko is a whirlwind of terror, pouncing, stalking, racing. Sakura and Fai both stop to watch her, and she delights in their attention: she jumps higher, runs faster, bats and pounces and frolics until she’s covered in long strands of cut blond hair.
Sakura laughs and clicks her shears. “I think Nadeshiko likes your haircut, Fai-san.”
5.
The kitten takes to riding around on Fai’s shoulder, draped over him like some boneless fur accessory. When Yuuko sends them a new set of clothes, Fai calls her up through Mokona and requests a different color shirt.
“It’s just,” he explains, “black shows the cat hair so much.”
6.
Syaoran sits down to eat one bleary morning, only to find fierce green eyes scrutinizing him. Nadeshiko has broken all rules of propriety and climbed onto the kitchen table; she sits there, her paws and tail neatly tucked beneath her, and glares daggers at Syaoran.
He feels obligated to glare back, and when Sakura comes in and finds Syaoran having a staring match with a kitten she breaks down with laughter for the first time in months.
7.
Fai and Kurogane are sharing a room, so when Fai wakes up heaving and wan in the night Kurogane knows it. The dreams come less frequently now, but tonight he hears the mutters that signal the start of a nightmare. He rolls over in bed, tense and ready for when the magician wakes.
When Fai does finally bolt upright and cradle his face in his hands, a little ball of fur trots up from the foot of the bed. Nadeshiko climbs into Fai’s lap before Kurogane even begins to move; Fai laughs shakily and runs his hand down the kitten’s body.
Kurogane huffs and goes back to sleep.
8.
Mokona has the hardest time adjusting to the new addition, maybe even more than Kurogane. Sakura’s worried that Moko-chan’s feelings will be hurt, and she takes special pains to spend time with their mascot. Mokona firmly denies any jealousy, but he conspicuously avoids Fai for weeks.
Sakura’s not sure that Mokona will ever make peace with Fai and Nadeshiko, though, until one day when she’s trailing the magician to the market. There’s the hint of a white ear peeking out from the hood of his coat. She stands on tiptoe and peers inside, and finds Mokona curled up with Nadeshiko, both of them fast asleep.
9.
Fai reminds them all of a cat, just a little bit. He's mysterious and fastidious and has the same coiled, languid air as the best of felines. It's not surprising to any of them that he chose a cat for his familiar.
When Syaoran points this out, Fai's eyebrows arch in shock. "She's not my familiar," he says, "and I'm not a witch." As he combs his fingers through Nadeshiko's coat, though, a look of mild bemusement settles across his face. "Although," he adds, "I suppose I could make an exception."
10.
Kurogane slits his wrist and offers it to Fai. The magician dips his head, but there’s something a little more anxious tonight in the way he laps the blood from Kurogane’s arm, as if he’s drinking not just because the ninja is forcing him.
He finally pulls back and straightens, drawing the back of his hand across his mouth. “Thank you,” he says, and hands Kurogane a towel. A bit of blood dribbles to the floor; Kurogane wraps his wrist and bends over the wipe it up.
He’s blocked, though, by Nadeshiko; she’s lapping the blood from the floor with a rough pink tongue, and Fai covers his mouth to stifle a laugh at the expression on Kurogane’s face.
11.
Syaoran and Kurogane both have their doubts that Fai will be able to keep track of his pet through so many worlds, but Sakura believes and if Fai has his doubts, nobody knows.
After two months, Nadeshiko is still with them, though, and after nine she’s growing into a sleek, soft cat. It’s more usual than not, now, to see Fai with the cat trotting at his heels or curled on his chest, and when Nadeshiko’s around there’s always a hint of a smile on the magician’s face.
12.
Fai laughs as Nadeshiko scales his chest and bats at the patch over his eye. She jumps up to his shoulder and rubs her face against Fai’s cheek, and he turns and kisses her on the head.
“Hmph,” says Kurogane from the other end of the couch. He must have caught the cat’s attention, because she walks across the back of the sofa with exquisite balance and leaps into his lap. He freezes.
“Go ahead. Pet her,” Fai says, his white butterfly hands gesturing encouragement.
Kurogane scowls and engulfs the cat’s head with his palm. She purrs and butts up against it, and before he knows it Kurogane is petting her with long, languid strokes. She mews and rolls over, and he scratches her belly. Fai smiles at them with twinkling ocean eyes.
Kurogane admits grudgingly, just to himself, that maybe Nadeshiko isn’t so bad after all.
CHARACTERS: Kurogane/Fai
NOTES: Repost from 2007. Dedicated to my cat, who died one week shy of her sixteenth birthday.
SUMMARY: “It’s just,” Fai explains, “black shows the cat hair so much.”
TWELVE MINUTES WITH NADESHIKO
1.
The fur catches his eye first, long before he hears the pitiful cries. It’s a kitten, a kitten colored the buffed tan of autumn leaves. It’s huddled in the gutter and mewing faintly, crouched next to another little cat of the same color.
Fai looks at the kitten for a long minute, then scoops it up and cradles it in his arms.
2.
“Is it a boy or a girl, Fai-san?” Sakura asks. He’s glad to see some delight in her eyes; she’s been solemn and sacrificing for too long.
“She’s a girl,” he says, and passes the little ball of fur to his princess. “I haven’t named her yet.”
Sakura considers the kitten, then says, “How about Nadeshiko?”
3.
Kurogane’s face is a study in exasperation, but his tone is admirably calm, if a little forced. “Why,” he asks, “is there a kitten in my shoe?”
Fai smiles up at him from the floor. “That’s Nadeshiko-chan, Kuro-pii! Isn’t she cute?”
Kurogane opens his mouth to complain, but he’s secretly so glad to hear Fai call him something besides “Kurogane” that he just walks away.
4.
Nadeshiko is a whirlwind of terror, pouncing, stalking, racing. Sakura and Fai both stop to watch her, and she delights in their attention: she jumps higher, runs faster, bats and pounces and frolics until she’s covered in long strands of cut blond hair.
Sakura laughs and clicks her shears. “I think Nadeshiko likes your haircut, Fai-san.”
5.
The kitten takes to riding around on Fai’s shoulder, draped over him like some boneless fur accessory. When Yuuko sends them a new set of clothes, Fai calls her up through Mokona and requests a different color shirt.
“It’s just,” he explains, “black shows the cat hair so much.”
6.
Syaoran sits down to eat one bleary morning, only to find fierce green eyes scrutinizing him. Nadeshiko has broken all rules of propriety and climbed onto the kitchen table; she sits there, her paws and tail neatly tucked beneath her, and glares daggers at Syaoran.
He feels obligated to glare back, and when Sakura comes in and finds Syaoran having a staring match with a kitten she breaks down with laughter for the first time in months.
7.
Fai and Kurogane are sharing a room, so when Fai wakes up heaving and wan in the night Kurogane knows it. The dreams come less frequently now, but tonight he hears the mutters that signal the start of a nightmare. He rolls over in bed, tense and ready for when the magician wakes.
When Fai does finally bolt upright and cradle his face in his hands, a little ball of fur trots up from the foot of the bed. Nadeshiko climbs into Fai’s lap before Kurogane even begins to move; Fai laughs shakily and runs his hand down the kitten’s body.
Kurogane huffs and goes back to sleep.
8.
Mokona has the hardest time adjusting to the new addition, maybe even more than Kurogane. Sakura’s worried that Moko-chan’s feelings will be hurt, and she takes special pains to spend time with their mascot. Mokona firmly denies any jealousy, but he conspicuously avoids Fai for weeks.
Sakura’s not sure that Mokona will ever make peace with Fai and Nadeshiko, though, until one day when she’s trailing the magician to the market. There’s the hint of a white ear peeking out from the hood of his coat. She stands on tiptoe and peers inside, and finds Mokona curled up with Nadeshiko, both of them fast asleep.
9.
Fai reminds them all of a cat, just a little bit. He's mysterious and fastidious and has the same coiled, languid air as the best of felines. It's not surprising to any of them that he chose a cat for his familiar.
When Syaoran points this out, Fai's eyebrows arch in shock. "She's not my familiar," he says, "and I'm not a witch." As he combs his fingers through Nadeshiko's coat, though, a look of mild bemusement settles across his face. "Although," he adds, "I suppose I could make an exception."
10.
Kurogane slits his wrist and offers it to Fai. The magician dips his head, but there’s something a little more anxious tonight in the way he laps the blood from Kurogane’s arm, as if he’s drinking not just because the ninja is forcing him.
He finally pulls back and straightens, drawing the back of his hand across his mouth. “Thank you,” he says, and hands Kurogane a towel. A bit of blood dribbles to the floor; Kurogane wraps his wrist and bends over the wipe it up.
He’s blocked, though, by Nadeshiko; she’s lapping the blood from the floor with a rough pink tongue, and Fai covers his mouth to stifle a laugh at the expression on Kurogane’s face.
11.
Syaoran and Kurogane both have their doubts that Fai will be able to keep track of his pet through so many worlds, but Sakura believes and if Fai has his doubts, nobody knows.
After two months, Nadeshiko is still with them, though, and after nine she’s growing into a sleek, soft cat. It’s more usual than not, now, to see Fai with the cat trotting at his heels or curled on his chest, and when Nadeshiko’s around there’s always a hint of a smile on the magician’s face.
12.
Fai laughs as Nadeshiko scales his chest and bats at the patch over his eye. She jumps up to his shoulder and rubs her face against Fai’s cheek, and he turns and kisses her on the head.
“Hmph,” says Kurogane from the other end of the couch. He must have caught the cat’s attention, because she walks across the back of the sofa with exquisite balance and leaps into his lap. He freezes.
“Go ahead. Pet her,” Fai says, his white butterfly hands gesturing encouragement.
Kurogane scowls and engulfs the cat’s head with his palm. She purrs and butts up against it, and before he knows it Kurogane is petting her with long, languid strokes. She mews and rolls over, and he scratches her belly. Fai smiles at them with twinkling ocean eyes.
Kurogane admits grudgingly, just to himself, that maybe Nadeshiko isn’t so bad after all.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-16 04:52 am (UTC)